There are over seven billion smartphones in the world. To put that into perspective, the world’s population is around eight billion.
Whether we use them for work, to stay in touch with friends, or to scroll social media, smartphones have become integral parts of our lives and, consequently, a home to our most sensitive information. A compromised device could allow access to all of this information, so understanding the role of mobile device security is crucial for avoiding risks and ensuring data and network protection.
To help you use your devices without worrying about data breaches and other risks, this guide will cover:
- The basics of mobile device security
- Online threats you should be aware of
- Mobile security best practices
What Is Mobile Device Security?
Mobile device security involves protecting your phone, tablet, or laptop and the info you keep on it from unauthorized access, data theft, breaches, and other online threats.
Smartphones store sensitive data like credit card information, photos, names, messages, passwords, and much more. If a device is compromised, this data could be stolen and misused, leading to identity theft, data loss, and financial harm.
Mobile device security is about more than protecting your data. Robust device security can also prevent:
- System damage: Some mobile security threats are designed to intentionally harm your system.
- Unauthorized control: Hackers may try to infiltrate your device and access your accounts to track your activity or use them to scam your contacts.
Common Mobile Security Threats
Mobile device security risks are often overlooked—until a breach occurs and the damage is done. The table below summarizes common mobile security issues you should be aware of:
Key Areas of Mobile Device Security
Proper mobile device security encompasses several essential areas, all aimed at protecting your device from threats. Here are the primary areas to focus on:
- Device security: Involves protecting your devices against unauthorized access and use through strong passwords or biometric authentication. Device security can also include remote wipe, a feature that lets you send a command to remotely delete all data from your device in case of theft or loss.
- Network security: Encompasses using virtual private networks (VPNs) and various endpoint security solutions to shield your device from network-based risks that could arise from connecting to unsecure WiFi and cellular networks.
- App security: Includes leveraging safety practices, such as using only verified apps or customizing permissions, to protect your data and minimize exposure to app vulnerabilities.
Mobile Security Best Practices: How To Secure a Mobile Device
Follow these recommended practices for ensuring basic security on your mobile device:
- Regularly update your operating system
- Download apps from reliable sources and customize permissions
- Use strong authentication methods
- Secure network connections
- Protect your organization’s information
- Choose the right mobile carrier
1. Regularly Update Your Operating System
One of the easiest and best ways to protect against mobile device security attacks is to keep your system updated. Cybercriminals and hackers constantly devise new, creative ways to infiltrate devices and cause damage.
Operating system developers counteract these attacks with OS updates that reduce software vulnerabilities and protect users from evolving attacks and malware.
Besides boosting your device’s security, OS updates have other important advantages, such as:
- Improved performance: Updates can include bug fixes and optimizations to keep your device running smoothly.
- New features: Updating your device unlocks access to new options that can improve user experience.
- Uninterrupted support: Updates ensure your device remains continuously supported, allowing you to contact the manufacturer if an issue arises. In addition to this, they provide access to new features and security patches.
Set up automatic updates to ensure your system is always running on the latest version.
2. Download Apps From Reliable Sources and Customize Permissions
Even if apps don’t contain malware, they can have mobile security vulnerabilities, leaving your device at a higher risk of attacks. To ensure maximum security, download apps only from reliable sources and official stores. Which source you’ll use depends on your OS:
When you download an app, check the information it uses and processes, and you may be able to spot some red flags. For example, your productivity app shouldn’t require permission to make calls.
To add an extra layer of protection, customize the permissions and ensure the app collects only the data it needs to function properly—this reduces the risk of unauthorized access and data leaks.
Some other precautions related to app security include:
- Reviewing and updating the permissions occasionally to maintain high-level protection
- Deleting apps when you’re no longer using them
- Updating apps to get security patches that minimize vulnerabilities
3. Use Strong Authentication Methods
While digital threats can pose a serious security risk to your device, you shouldn’t neglect the importance of physical breaches. If your device gets lost or stolen, authentication methods help protect your data from unauthorized access. Common methods include:
- Setting up a strong password: A strong password is a longer string of letters, numbers, and symbols that protects your device, apps, or accounts. It shouldn’t contain your personal info and common words, as this could be easier to guess.
- Using two-factor authentication (2FA): 2FA is a security measure that involves adding extra protection to your accounts by requiring two forms of identification to log in. In addition to a password, you can also set up a fingerprint verification or security code.
- Use biometric authentication: It involves using your unique biometric traits (like your face, voice, or fingerprint) to verify your identity and access your device or specific accounts. It enhances your security and eliminates the risk of someone else accessing your device by guessing your password.
4. Secure Network Connections
Strong passwords and regular system updates won’t mean much if you use your mobile device to connect to unprotected networks. While network security should be a priority, people often neglect it, and hackers exploit that. Unsecure network connections open the door to cyber attacks, unauthorized access, and exploitation of your information.
To maintain your network security, follow these tips:
- Avoid public WiFi networks: We’ve mentioned that public WiFi networks are one of the biggest mobile security threats as they’re unsecured and more susceptible to attacks. It’s best to avoid them, and if you do use one, don’t share sensitive information while connected.
- Use a VPN: A VPN acts as a tunnel that creates a secure, encrypted connection to protect your online privacy. Use it when connecting to networks of questionable security.
- Protect your SIM: A SIM card can be a gateway for cyber attacks because hackers can use it to take over your phone number and intercept and access your data. Depending on your carrier, you can use certain features to keep your SIM safe, such as Wireless Account Lock (AT&T) or number locking (Verizon).
- Secure your home network: Your home network represents a critical security vulnerability, as you connect all your devices to it. To keep it secure, change your username and password as soon as you set up WiFi at your house, regularly update router firmware, and utilize a firewall.
- Enable 2FA on your carrier account: While 2FA is often used for app logins (as explained above), enabling it on your mobile carrier account adds an additional layer of defense against SIM swap attacks and unauthorized access to your mobile device.
5. Protect Your Organization’s Information
If you use a mobile device for work, corporate mobile device security is critical. Here are some best practices and options to help you and your organization enhance security:
- Remote wipe and lock features: If your device gets stolen or lost, network administrators can wipe confidential data or lock the device to prevent unauthorized access.
- Role-based access controls: These controls limit access to sensitive info based on specific roles in the company to minimize the chances of breaches and data leaks.
- Mobile device management (MDM) solutions: These allow organizations to monitor, manage, and secure relevant devices and protect sensitive and confidential data.
- Cloud access security broker (CASB): CASB acts as the middleman between users and cloud service providers to monitor relevant activity and enforce security policies.
- Application management and whitelisting: Unapproved (or insecure) apps can introduce vulnerabilities to corporate data. Organizations should implement whitelisting or MDM tools to control which apps employees can install, ensuring only trusted software is used on work devices.
6. Choose the Right Mobile Carrier
Carrier infrastructure is often overlooked, but it’s a critical part of mobile phone security—even the best personal security practices can be undermined by carrier-level vulnerabilities.
Ideally, your mobile carrier is the first line of defence against security threats, but unfortunately, telco data breaches have become more common than ever. In the last few years, all major US carriers have experienced at least one breach, impacting millions of users.
These frequent attacks are quite concerning, considering the amount of information carriers require and the data your phone broadcasts without you even knowing. The repeated number of sophisticated attacks in the past highlights the fact that there’s a serious gap in security protocols that protect subscribers’ valuable information, and it’s hard to find any meaningful improvements.
Given these risks, it’s important to choose a mobile carrier that prioritizes privacy and gives users control over their data, such as Cape.
Cape: Privacy & Security Without Compromise
Cape is a mobile carrier that provides fast and reliable coverage while focusing on security and privacy through features like:
You get all of these options that ensure high security, plus unlimited texts and calls, as well as high-speed internet. There are no hidden costs, fees, or taxes. You get access to everything we offer for $99/month.
Protect Your Data (and Device) With Cape
To unlock Cape’s features, you need only an eSIM-compatible phone. In just a few steps, you can sign up anonymously—yet another confirmation of our privacy-first “Don’t Trust Us” philosophy. Start the process by visiting cape.co/get-cape.
You can expect more exciting features in the future—Cape is committed to developing and releasing new options while in beta. We’ve also partnered with Proton to offer our subscribers Proton Unlimited or Proton VPN Plus for just $1 for six months.
If you’re interested in secure mobile devices, you can visit our Shop Page to explore compatible phones that offer long-term savings in your Cape plan.
